Michael, people make mistakes. I would give the benefit of doubt to him on this one. With this note he is trying to correct the mistake. Lots of people over the years have thought I had a Ph. D. I always try to correct the idea but no matter how many times I correct that mistaken impression new people pop up with it.

I would also recall an error made by a publisher. When Gordon Simons and I submitted a paper to the Journal of Theoretical Biology, Gordie put down his institution under his name. Because I work for a private comapny, I can't use their name without their permission. So, we just put me as "Glenn Morton, Aberdeen" because I was living in Aberdeen, Scotland at the time. But when the paper came out, I was utterly embarassed to find that the editor had changed it to "Glenn Morton, Aberdeen University" (apparently the editor has the bias against non academics thinking that we can't possibly submit a paper to such a journal). Because we thought that some pre-prints had gone to that university, I had to call a professor friend of mine there and try to explain the situation. I am sure someone some day will accuse me of inflating my background as well.

This is frankly rather sad, accepting an honorary DD from an unknown and
probably uncredited institution (though I am not sure what the accreditation
of the proper Oxford University is and I am sure that for nearly a
millennium it had no accreditation of any kind and simply awarded its own
degrees without reference to anyone else!!! Harvard did that for less than
two hundred years).
I have never heard of anyone in England or the rest of Britain being giving
a DD for the publication of what was only a good quality popular book. About
6 of my theological profs gained DDs from British universities eg Barrett,
Cranfield, Turner, Parker as a result of considerable academic publications.
Arthur Peacocke was given an Oxford DD for his 1978 Bampton lectures
Creation and the World of Science.

I would still like to know what this "Emmanuel College, Oxford " is or was.
Whatever else one may think all this is highly misleading as most would not
know that there is no Emmanuel College as a constituent college of the
University of Oxford, which is a fairly good university.

> Gary Habermas has asked me to post this statement to the ASA list,
> regarding
> various speculations* re his DD degree:
>
> - 0 -
>
> Here are the details as I recall them. Years ago, my 1988 copyright book
> from Thomas Nelson, The Historical Jesus, was published in England by
> Monarch Publications of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. Sometime later,
> still many years ago, I was given the D.D. certificate & the person who
> contacted me said that it was awarded for the publication of that book and
> that this was occasionally practiced in England. Subsequently, sometimes
> I
> listed it & sometimes I did not. With several people, I specifically
> called
> it an honorary degree. But in answer to my original question, the
> representative made it very clear that they were NOT part of Oxford
> University but simply located in Oxford, England (Emmanuel College), at
> least back then. Today is the second time that I recall hearing
> questions.
> After the first occasion, I simply quit listing the D.D., which I think
> was
> at least a year or more ago. In fact, completely apart from seeing this
> email this morning, I had already removed it from my resume, from the
> Liberty University catalog, and from the Liberty University bio that LU
> had
> published about me. So I took these steps without any pressure from the
> current discussion that you mentioned.
>
> As far as "questioning my credentials" I do have an earned Ph.D. from
> Michigan State University.
>
> Several times recently when I have heard people use the D.D., I have tried
> to correct it. Beyond the earlier examples listed above, just this
> morning,
> after seeing it mentioned in the emails, I called Southern Evangelical
> Seminary & asked that they remove it from their website/online catalog, or
> wherever it is listed. Please pass this information on to the folks you
> mention & I'd appreciate it! I just wish that people had contacted me to
> ask their question before guessing about these matters.
>
> - 0 -
>
> * As an alternative to speculating, I contacted him. As a journalist, I
> believe that that is a sound practice, and would encourage its use. -
> cheers, Denyse
>
> --
> Read brief excerpts from my book, By Design or by Chance?: The Growing
> Controversy On the Origins of Life in the Universe (Augsburg Fortress,
> 2004)
> at
>
> http://www.designorchance.com/press.html >
> Study Guide:
> http://www.arn.org/arnproducts/books/b088sk.htm >
> Amazon:
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0806651776/qid=1109790930/sr=8 > -1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-8617533-8799957?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
> My blog:
>
> http://post-darwinist.blogspot.com/ > (go to other blogs from here)
>
> Denyse O'Leary
> Tel: 416 485-2392
> Fax: 416 485-2392
> oleary@sympatico.ca
> www.designorchance.com
>
>
>
Received on Tue Oct 18 08:26:05 2005